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Glasses / Contacts

I am musing about moving from glasses to contacts. My wife has worn contacts for years, so I understand how they‘«÷re used and cared for. What I‘«÷m interested in is hearing about others‘«÷ visual experience.

I wear progressives with a mild distance correction and a moderate (~2.25) correction for reading. For me, progressives are very satisfactory for all purposes except riding: the change in focal length as my eyes momentarily drop below the horizon (as, for example, when selecting a line around a corner) is disorienting. When I ride, I wear bifocals with a very small segment, which allows me to read the instruments and gives me the distance correction for everything beyond the bike. This works just fine.

The idea of one set of contacts that would handle both distance and close vision for both riding and non-riding is appealing. Mary wears monovision contacts, and I understand there are bifocal contacts as well. But I wonder about the focus issue mentioned above. Contact lens literature suggests that more head movement may be necessary to focus than with glasses, and, at least as importantly, that some depth perception may be lost.

These sound like they might be disqualifying for motorcycling. If you‘«÷ve made this change and liked it, or declined to make it, or returned to glasses, I‘«÷d like to hear about your experience. Thanks!

dbrick - i moved this over to gear so hopefully more people will see it. (get it? yuk yuk yuk!)

and to answer your question: glasses were a non-starter for me. i wanted full peripheral vision on the bike so i used to wear conacts for riding. i got tired of putting them in and out, and a multi-day trip with several 16 hour riding days strung together would've stunk. so i had LASIK surgery, and the rest is history. i highly recommend it.

your eyes might be older than mine, so perhaps you wouldnt be able to read the instruments with just LASIK?

I've used the monovision contacts for years and find them to give me better vision than glasses alone. The only getting used to time was that I needed gas permeable rather than soft contacts so that took some increasing time for my eyes to get used to contacts. The new ones I got breathe so much better than the earlier versions. I really don't notice them.

I tried contacts and later RK for correction to eliminate the need for glasses. I had good results from the RK and I understand the new lasik is far better.

One of the things I did learn is that to ride I still needed glasses. The contacts dried out and caused irritation and I still needed dark glasses. Even after RK I had issues with dryness and wanted dark glasses. At night I had increased sensitivity and wanted protection for the eyeball from dust and bugs.

In short I still ended up using glasses just as much for riding and out door activities. Later when my eyes changed and I needed correction again I just stayed with the glasses. I use the ones that go dark outside instead of having 2 pair to deal with and have been happy with them.

I used to wear thick bifocal glassses prior to having lasik. I'm 50+, well closer to 60. The only time I have to use reading glasses now is to read fine print in dim light. I'd at least check into the lasik. I wish it had been around thirty years ago. I'd have saved a ton on glasses and contacts over the years.

I wear contacts when I ride, and haven't really had a problem with them. I'd totally opt for having Lasik someday though, once my eyes stop getting progressively worse.

I think it would be a good idea to keep a spare pair of glasses, a contact lens case and perhaps some saline solution in your tank bag while you're sorting out the details. That way, if they're bothering you or if you want to ease into just wearing contacts, you have the option of pulling over and taking them out.

Also, rewetting drops would be a good thing to have if your eyes get dry.

...glasses were a non-starter for me. i wanted full peripheral vision on the bike so i used to wear conacts for riding. i got tired of putting them in and out, and a multi-day trip with several 16 hour riding days strung together would've stunk. so i had LASIK surgery, and the rest is history. i highly recommend it...

This exactly sums up my history, thoughts and situation. My gas-permeable hard contacts allowed me crisp peripheral vision, but I am 54 and after 38 years of contacts, I grew weary of the maintenance. Getting a foreign object and especially dust in my eyes became a major PITA. So, after years of reading about surgery and the advance of the safety and equipment, I had it done in May.

My opinion? It is absolutely amazing. 20/200 to 20/15. One eye was left slightly less corrected to reduce the need for reading glasses, but I need reading glasses just as I did with contacts.

One thing that I was not told clearly in advance: the surgery cuts through a nerve in the cornea that sends signals to the tear duct to produce tears, and I have to use drops a few times a day for months to compensate, until the nerve reconnects.

I don't understand why anyone would want to wear glasses in a helmet. They fog up, peripheral vison sucks, and I sure wouldn't want them inside my helmet in an accident.

I am experimenting with a small sliver of an Optx lens stuck on the bottom left-of-center of my faceshield for glancing at maps and GPS.

vision correction: very interesting thread

I wear tri-focals. The top bar is for distance (movies, riding, etc)
The mid bar has a focal length of 20 to 36 inches (computer work, shooting, hands on stuff).
The lower bar is good for 12-15 (reading and close work).

I went to tri focals because I needed that mid-range capability.

I have had in the past, the top of the midrange set at 4mm above pupil center, and that has worked out well. CAUTION: Be careful when start tinkering with that stuff, because it may interfere with your distance site line.

I am not a candidate for lasik. I had to stop wearing contacts many years ago because my eyes would no longer tolerate them --started with hard, then soft, then gas perms, then that was it.

my 0.02

"What is beautiful is simple, and what is simple always works"....Kalashnikov, inventor of the AK-47.
Current bike: 2015 Yamaha TW 200, modified for road/street use with tire, sprocket upgrades. "Center yourself in the vertizontal. Ride a motorcycle...namaste' "

I wear tri-focals. Top for distance, middle for ranges 24 to 48 inches or so, bottom 12 - 15 inches for reading. Mine are the kind with the lines. The lines enable me to set my head to keep the right segment in position for the task at hand.

I find no loss of peripheral vision with glasses. I haven't had a problem with fogging of the lenses the way the face shield fogs. I also have astigmatism, which complicates the rest.

I have been down before and my glasses stayed in place, but the helmet did not survive. I have been clobbered in soccer and not had my glasses come off.

Lasik surgery seems quite appealing, though, for those of us who tire of glasses after 40 or more years.

So far as the contacts are concerned, why not take them on a test drive? I tried them for 10 days many years ago to see if I liked them. I did not, but there was no cost.

No glasses

I started wearing glasses in the 7th grade (many years ago) and hated them. When soft contacts came out, I asked the eye doctor if I could try them. I was so impressed that I took an extra job after school to pay for them. After high school, college, and a few years of marriage, my eyes weren't able to tolerate the lenses all day. Back to glasses.

Three years ago, my doctor started a new program called Cornial Refractive Therapy, or CRT for short. When I go to bed at night, I put a gas permial lense in each eye and go to sleep. While asleep, the lense reshapes my eye and when I wake up, out it comes. I have close to 20/20 all day with no correction. It has even corrected the astigmatism in my right eye.

I really like it, and it's far cheaper than Lasik and a lot less risky.

I started wearing glasses in the 7th grade (many years ago) and hated them. When soft contacts came out, I asked the eye doctor if I could try them. I was so impressed that I took an extra job after school to pay for them. After high school, college, and a few years of marriage, my eyes weren't able to tolerate the lenses all day. Back to glasses.

Three years ago, my doctor started a new program called Cornial Refractive Therapy, or CRT for short. When I go to bed at night, I put a gas permial lense in each eye and go to sleep. While asleep, the lense reshapes my eye and when I wake up, out it comes. I have close to 20/20 all day with no correction. It has even corrected the astigmatism in my right eye.

I really like it, and it's far cheaper than Lasik and a lot less risky.

pretty interesting. are you near or far sighted? what was your original vision 20/?

About 6 years ago, I started wearing bi-focals because my arms were not getting any longer and reading the newspaper and such was getting to be a pain. Recently, at the recommendation of my optician and optometrist, I moved to progressive lenses. The problem I have with the progressives is the angle they sit at under my helmet does not allow me to see distances properly. So, I have a pair of single vision glasses that I wear when riding. Thankfully, the dials and such on my bike are large enough to see without causing any problems. When I get off the bike, I take my single vision glasses off and put on my progressives. For sun protection I have a $20.00 pair of polarized clip-ons. This way, I have one pair of glasses that I can use on the bike regardless of the time of day.

I also have single vision contacts that I occasionally wear. I got the initially for walking the dog on the -25C days (nothing worse than not seeing where the dog wants to drag you). I wear them on the bike sometimes. I like the fact that I can have cheap, wrap around style sunglasses under my helmet. No problems when the visor is open because the wrap keeps the wind away from my eyes.

I have chosen to not consider Lasik surgery due to the issues surrounding the loss of night vision that have been documented. I am currently the only driver in the house and I don't want to end up stranded some place because I cannot safely see where I am going. And come winter, we will only have 8-9 hours of daylight up here.

Just my 2 cents on this topic.

Robert2010 Suzuki GSX1250SEA
‘«£If you get in too far over your head, remember - full throttle and make it spectacular!‘«ō http://www.yearroundriders.com